Cdn Angler

By all accounts here in north east Canada they used to be fairly common, but the creation of dams made it impossible to reach their desired spawning grounds and they are nearly extinct in many places where they used to be abundant.

Which of the 1000 or so back lakes that require bushwhacking/canoe within 5 hours of my house contains unreal fishing? I've found one. I'd like to find more. Only way is the hard way.

I've caught a few smallmouth killing a plopper in crystal clear water over deep water. Sometimes by accident while pausing mid retrieve to do something else. They hit after extremely long pauses which makes me think they were not suspended shallow (I didn't catch anything with a constantly moving bait), but came from down below when they saw the thing making a ruckus turn into a non-moving "easy target."

Yep hammer handles for sure. I've only caught 5 muskies, all decent but not monsters and none have broken me off yet. Two on whopper ploppers. It's often just a fluke as to where the hooks/bait end up. The bite offs I do encounter are usually immediate and smaller baits.

I had this happen last night. Snagged a whopper plopper on a lily pad. Yanked it and the pad underwater and pulling on it for a bit and hooked an OK bass. I thought i might of foul hooked it, but nope, right in the mouth.

I've caught 50-100 pike/2 muskie on whopper ploppers and no break offs yet. They usually aren't able to engulf the whole thing it seems like. Jerkbaits, jigs, swimbaits...another story.

3 - solid 4 - will remember 5 - amazing 6 I don't understand Canada

Saw tons of them here in Ontario and all in shallow.

In Ontario. The bass don't get as large. They see fewer lures/anglers. More SMB than LMB. They have less time to eat due to cold. We have more natural lakes vs reservoirs. We have more vegetation in many of our lakes. Many small creeks or ponds don't hold fish as they completely freeze in winter. Winter fishing for bass is not an option. Less fish in total due to cold. We aren't allowed to fish pre spawn or during. Chatterbaits, deep cranking, big swimbaits, treble hooks for LMB in summer, lizards/bluegill for bed fishing, big colorado blades etc. All of these are still possible at times and do "work", just not as much as in warmer climates.

If you think colour doesn't matter go out and chuck pink baits all day and see how you feel. It isn't the most critical factor, but it it certainly part of the equation. I've fished a river for SMB dinks and the odd walleye/catfish for years now. My white crankbait gets crushed. Same exact crank in craw, yellow, perch = way less bites. My buddy fishes next to me on yellow and catches half what I do in the same spot. Year over year. I finally broke down and bought his cheap ass a white one. Why white? I have no idea.

If its is shallow, vegetation near shore is an issue, clear enough water and you are targetting SMB I'd look at topwater lures that you can bomb with super long casts. Provided current isn't too strong. Whopper plopper on lighter line will cast a mile. Rattlin Roumba same thing. Or a heavy popper. It might not work, but it is a tool that can cover a lot of water from the bank. Smallmouth tend to like topwater and if it is only 12 feet deep they should be able to see it. Hopefully the végétation is mostly submerged or you can pick open spots.

South eastern. Not many that size around here, though they do exist are far from common. A local tournament had a pike tournament dating back to the mid 90s. Heaviest pike was 10 lbs. Think Ottawa to Kingston to Cornwall. Bigger up in Quebec or North Bay and beyond.

Interesting. I'm in Ontario Canada and around here we have almost entirely small pike sub 5 lbs. But 3 hours south in NY I see people catching huge pike on small bodies of water. I don't understand this either. Pike up North get huge from eating walleye/whitefish etc, but there aren't any mote of these in NY than Ontario. We have less fishing pressure. The muskie here get huge. But not pike. Go figure.

Northern have less time to fish too so might not see it as a "career" option. Hard to fish tournaments when the lake is frozen. Also other fish to target like walleye, muskie, pike that get far bigger. In general things here are less bass centric. Bass Pro Shops would not be a name chosen for a business starting up North.

6th Sense Divine 4/0 is good. A 4/0 dirty jigs matt allen head. Gamakatsu also makes a swimbait head with a skinnier head profile in various sizes. I'd like the screw lock best for preserving baits, but the matt allen head looks best and runs even, but baits don't last as long on the keeper IMO.

Doe he order stuff off tacklewarehouse? If so login and peruse his "wishlist." Buy him those items. If you know what models/ brands of lures he likes...get more that are similar but slightly différent sizes, colours etc.

Your drag is going to have to be tight to have a chance at lifting a truly "huge" fish straight out of the water. Otherwise it'll just take out line when you lift, defeating the purpose. But if you tighten the drag there is no give on the line which means it is more likely to snap your line or rod. Try and beach it if you can, but better yet bring a net and not hurt the fish, lose the fish or break your line. If truly big and beaching isn't an option I would try and grab the fish with my hands before pulling on the line with bare hands - if it is a big fish this also risks line snapage since your hands have zero "drag." No perfect solution except a net.

A small swimbait on an exposed hook or weedless is hard to beat for versatility. Can throw in heavy cover, jig off bottom, slow swim or burn it near the surface.

That's brutal. I went up North last year a couple weeks past opener and there was still snow on the ground and water temps below 48. Coldest spring on record. Didn't catch much. The worst is that this past weekend was gorgeous, mid 70's, but nothing is open until this weekend and it looks like a few weeks of cold, cold and more cold. I'll be out hacking away anyways some how or other.

Opening day for pike and it is a polar vortex. Literally. Projected high: just above freezing. Not that I was looking forward to fishing after all this time on house arrest or anything so no biggie.

The only time i suffered bad line twist was with straight mono fishing in A LOT of weeds where the entire lure would get turned. Never had a problem with braid. I now put a swivel on 'em because winter is long and dark and i was going stir crazy.

Right now my urban spots for shore fishing, which are two big rivers, one is shut down completely and the other has no parking but if you walk there you can fish. Many of the launches are shut down. A few aren't. I can't go the nearby province as they have police barricades. I yak fish and can get a boat off the side of the road onto the river, but im worried I'll catch an earful from anyone on the river, though i don't see anywhere that it is banned. They've also asked us not to travel too far, but that's a suggestion, not law. I'd like to stay close to home but most access is shut off. Ill probably travel. This isn't the U.S. where you have 20-50 boats/day at a launch. I rarely see anyone. It's such a mess as different jurisdictions and rules. With a kayak I can launch anywhere, but parking is another story. A lot will get clarified on pike/walley opener. I wish someone would spell out what's legal and what isn't. Personally they need to relax the rules and open public space. It is cold/dark in Canada 8 months/year. People need to be outdoors. It is low risk for covid spread and we have a lot of real estate.

When I've had that problem on a spinning reel it has usually been because I put on too much line. Try stripping some line. FYI braid is thinner so you can use heavier lb test braid on spinning reel than mono/flouro. I've used 30 lb braid on a 4000 series reel no problem, but 20 lb mono jumps off the reel.

I'd say you need to seperate "serious fishing" you do alone with "taking your parents out on the boat" which is not serious fishing requiring catching fish, $300 rods etc.

I just bought a RES, but have never used one. My most used lipless (all last season) was a River2Sea ruckus and it looks brand new still. I fished it a lot.